Anticreeper



Jun 23, 1925. 1,543,231

l A. T. PALMER ANTICREBPIR Filed July 22. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H INH l Il! Hl June 23, 1925.

. A. T. PALMER l ANTICREEPER Filed July 22. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ldatenteel .lune 23, i925,

UNITE STATES ALPI-IONSO T. PALMER, OF CHICAGO', ILLINOIS.

ANTICREEPER.

Application filed July 22, 1924. Serial No. 727,433.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALrI-:oNso THOMAS PALMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Anticreepers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

rIhe present invention relates broadly to means for preventing longitudinal creeping movement of rails, and more particularly to an anti-Creeper eiective intermediate adjacent ties, whereby said ties are effective through the tie plates carried thereby for resisting creeping of the rails.

At the present time it is customary to apply to a single panel of railway vsurface track a plurality of anti-creepers, the total number of anti-creepers so applied being determined mathematically by the `maximum load to be resisted. As a matter of actual practice, however, it is practically impossible to apply a plurality of anti-creepers in such manner that all of the anti-creepers are uniformly and simultaneously effective. Even if they are so applied initially, the individual anti-creepers will not afford exactly the same amount of resistance to longitudinal movement, with the result that the rail will tend to move more relatively to some of the anti-creepers than to the others. This soon establishes a condition in which one or two anti-Creepers in each panel are taking substantially the entire load at a given time. Under these conditions, the effective holding power of such anti-creepers is overcome and the rail moves successively relatively of the different anti-creepers as they come into operation.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to providean anti-creeper capable of exerting a greater resistance to creeping iovement of the rails, whereby the number of anti-Creepers per panel of track may be materially reduced. In this manner, itA is possible to initially apply a comparatively small number of anti-Creepers in such Inanner that maximum effectiveness thereof is insured, and in such manner that throughout a given length of track substantially all of the anti-Creepers will carry their full share of the load. f

It is also common practice on a number of roads to so apply anti-Creepers that a considerable area of contact is present between the anti-Creepers and the tie plates. I have found that such a condition is objectionable, as under the uf'eaving action of" the rails under the passing of loads thereover, the anti-creepers are` worked loose from the rails, thereby destroying their usefulness. Also in a largel number of the structures commonly used, there is contact be-v tween the steel anti-creeper and the wooden tie. Such a contact provides non-uniform conditions varying throughoutthe length of life of the anti-Creeper, and becoming more andmore objectionable as the tie wears.

The present invention has further for its object the provision of an anti-Creeper in which not only is the area of contact of the anti-Creeper with the tie plate reduced to a minimum, but also one in which the contact is continuously metal to metal.

In certain forms-of anti-creepers, the construction is such that as long as the tendency of the rail to creep is in a given direction, the anti-Creeper will grip the rail more and more tightly. Should the rail tend to creep in the opposite direction, however, such rail anchors are frequently loosened to an extent such that they thereafter exert no material holding action.

lith certain forms of constructions now employed, portions of the anti-creepers are so designed that they will extend downwardly a sufficient extent to connect with the ballast. During the winter, the ballast frequently becomes frozen hard enough so that upon any tendency of the rail to back away, the anti-creeper is held by the ballast ancll iseitherbroken or pulled loose from the rai rI he present invention has for other of its objects the provision of a construction such that the anti-creeper is equally effective against movement in either direction, and suchthat the ballast is never engaged to an extent suiiicient to produce the objectionable operation referred to.

In the accompanying drawings there are shown, for purposes of illustration only, certain preferred embodiments of the present invention, it being understood that the drawing-s do not deiine the limits of my invention, as changes in the construction and operation disclosed therein may be made without departing` either from the spirit of my invention or the scope of my broader claims.

In the drawings llO Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion or" traclr illustrating one form of anti-Creeper in operative position between adjacent ties;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view,- on an enlarged scale, onthe line II-ll ot Figure 1;

Figure 3 1s a longitudinal sectional view,

on an enlarged scale, on the line lll-dll oi Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1, illustrating a slightly Inodiiied embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view through a rail and an applied anti-creeper illustrating still another embodiment o'li the present invention; Y

'Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 illustrating a further modification;

AFigure 7 is a perspective view ot' the gripping eleinent shown in section in Figure 6, and y Figure 8 is an exploded view of certain portions of the anti-creeper shown in Figur'e 6.

Iny carrying out the' present invention, there is formed a gripping element Q oi suitable steel, preferably by rolling, to provide therein a groove 3 adapted to be driven on to onel edge of a vrail base so as toet iectiyely 'grip the same. At seme suitable point within the gripping element; and rpreterably lin the under lip Il thereof, are 'formed coaxial threaded openings 5 having a wall G'of solid vmetal therebetween. Threaded into the openings 5 are vthrust rods 'l' having a combined length which is determined by the average distance between'tie plates 8 on adjacent ties 9; It will be understood that by'v'reason4 ofthe threaded engagement of the rods v7 with the ygripping ,-elenient, it is pessible to vary theV overall length of the anti-creepcr in such nia-nner that ity will etH4 fectivtly and tightly engage the edges of the tie plates 8 on adjacent'ties.

Vfhile the openings 5 may be located at any desired point in the 'gripping element; they are preferably llformed therein in such manner that the reds 7 will engage the edges of the tie plates intermediate the spikes 10 on opposite sides of the rail; lnthis manner, any load transmittedirom the antin ereeper to the tie plates hrough vthe thrust rods .is taken up by all ofthe fastening means of the tie plate to `which the load is transmitted. Due to the-factthat the point of engagement between the thrust rods and the tie plates is intermediate the spikes on opposite Asides oi' the rail, there is no tendency oi? the tie plates' to-be thrown out et their normal positions. This insures a stra ght thrust on the gripping element 2 wit eut any tendency to twist the same from gripping engagement with Athe edge of' the rail base.

In Figure l of the drawings there is illus'- trated a slightly diierent form of the in vention,' in which a plurality of gripping elements 2 is utilized in place or" the single gripping element before described. ln this construction; each of the gripping elements.

may be provided with a single threaded opening; these openings preferably being right and leit handed to receive the threaded ends of the single thrust rod 7. While with this form of my invention, it is possible to utilize a plurality of gripping elements, l have found that on account of the increased area of contact between these elements 2 and the tie plates 8, the structure is not as satisfactory for all purposes as the structure just described.

lWith both of the forms of the invention heretofore referred to; it will be understood that only one et the openings in the gripu ping element Q or the opening in only one of the gripping elements 2 need be threaded, as the adjustment may be obtained by a single threaded engagement. Preferably; however, all of the openingsvare threaded, as in this manner ay correspondingly greaterV or less overall length can be obtained, thereby adapting the rail anchor for use even with ties spaced irregularly. On the other hand, vlfhere it is desiredV to operate under hired conditions with respect to the spotting et he tie plates7 the thrust rods may be rigidly secured in position within the gripping element or elements withoutany necessity for a threaded engagement.

In some cases it maybe desirable to provide seme supplemental means cooperating with tee gripping 'element for positively insuring accurate positioning thereoie and for prewentina` any tendency of the same to work oil1 the rail base. In Figure 5 there is illustrated one construction admirably suited tor this purpose. In accordance with this embodiment of my invention, the lunder lip d et the gripping element is provided with a hooi: shaped lug 11 extending lengthwise ofthe gripping element adjacent the inner edge thereof. This lug isY adapted to cooperate with one end ofV a clip 1Q; the oppesite end et' which is shaped to engage the edge et the rail base opposite the gripping el t. Due to the distance between ties, the clip 12may conveniently be formed of spring steel; and may be driven lengthwise et the rail over the lug 11 and into the position illustrated in Figure 54.

ln Figures 6; 7 and 8 there is illustrated a modilieation' of the invention embodying featuresl similar te those illustrated in Fig ure 5. In this i'orm, however, the lug 11 is omitted entirely, and the gripping element is formed with a longitudinally extending slot 14- intersecting the opening or Vopenings 15 in the lower lip oi the gripping elenient. With this construction; the thrust rod or rods 16 are formed with a longi-` tudinally extending recess 17 adapted to receive the correspondingly shaped head 18 of a fastening clip 19. l/Vith this construction, the anti-Creeper may be driven into position on a rail, and the fastening clip then driven into position, or the fastening clip may be placed in position prior to driving the gripping element on to the rail. In either case, the outer end 2O of the fastening clip will be bent upwardly around the edge of the rail base opposite the gripping element. To permit this bending operation, it will be understood that the main body of the fastening clip may be formed of spring steel with an untempered outer end, or the entire body ofthe clip may be of such characteristics that bending at any pointy may taire place.

lt will be apparent that in the form of my invention illustrated more particularly in Figure 1 of the drawings, the diameter of the thrust rods 7 is not limited to the thicknessof the tie plates at the portions thereof beneath therails. rhis isl true forthe reason that the ends of the thrust rods will readily embed themselves in the upper surface of the tie, either under the action of the spikes 10 when they are driven into place, or by reason of the passage of a train over the track. In either case, the depressions so formed vin the ties will cooperate with the thrust rods to some extent to counteract any tendency of the anti-Creeper to move laterally from the rail. This enables the parts of the anti-Creeper to be dimensioned with respect to the load to be carried thereby, without regard to limitation by reason of dimensions of standard railway appliances.

lVith all of the forms of my invention, the length of the gripping elements may be such as to give the desired area of contact between the same and the rail base, thereby overcoming the limitations imposed in structures in which the gripping element is mounted within a suitable opening or recess within the tie plate. This enables me to provide an anti-creeper having a materially greater holding power than anti-Creepers of the character referred to, whereby it is possible for me to reduce the number of anti- Creepers per unit of track section as hereinbefore pointed out,

Further advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of an anticreeper which is equally effective in resisting any tendency of the rail to move longitudinally in either direction, and which is maintained out of such engagement with the ballast as will prevent operation as desired.

l claim:

1. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to grip one edge only of a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, and means cooperating with said element to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on said tiesv to prevent creeping in either direction.

2. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to engage one edge of a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, and means adjustably cooperating with said element to vary the overall length of the element and means to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on said ties to prevent creeping in either direction.

3. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to engage one edge of a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, and thrust rods projecting from oppoite ends of said gripping element, at least one of said thrust rods having a threaded engagement with the gripping element.

f4. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element having an opening therein of a shape 'determined by the corresponding section of the rail base to be engaged thereby, said gripping element boing adapted to be driven laterally on to the rail base intermediate adjacent ties, and means preventing relative longitudinal movement between said gripping element and the tie plates on said ties to prevent creeping in either direction.

5. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, means cooperating therewith to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on said ties to prevent creeping in either direction, and means engaging saidelement and the edge of the rail base opposite the gripping element.

A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, means cooperating therewith to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on said ties to prevent creeping in either direction, and movable means engaging said element and the edge of the rail base opposite the gripping element.

7. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, means cooperating Atherewith to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on said ties to prevent creeping in either direction, and means movable longitudinally of the rail adapted to engage said gripping element and aportion of the rail base opposite the same.

8. As an article of manufacture, a rail anti-Creeper comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base, and a thrust rod adjustably mounted therein.

9. As an article of manufacture, a rail anti-Creeper comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base, and a plurality of thrust rods adjustably mounted therein.

10'. As an article of manufacture, a rail anti-creeper comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base, and a plurality of thrust rods adjustably mounted therein in coaxial alignment.

'11. As an article of manufacture, a rail anti-creeper comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base, and a thrust rod adjustably mounted therein, said thrust rod being adapted to extend below the rail base and between the edges thereof.

12. As an article of manufacture, a rail anti-Creeper comprising a rail gripping element adapted to be driven on to one edge of a rail base, and a plurality of thrust rods adjustably mounted therein, said thrust rods being adapted to extend below the rail base and between the edges thereof.

13. A rail anti-creeper, comprising means adapted to engage a portion of the rail base 'intermediate adjacent ties, and thrust means projecting therefrom for engaging .the tie plates on adjacent ties at a point within the limits of the spike openings therein.

14:. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to engage a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, and means cooperating with said element below the rail base and intermediate the edges thereof to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on bot-h of said ties to prevent creeping in either direction, said means being adjustably connected to said element whereby the overall length of the element and means may be varied.

15. A rail anti-Creeper, comprising a rail gripping element adapted to engage a rail base intermediate adjacent ties, and means cooperating with said element below the rail base to transmit loads therefrom to the tie plates on both of said ties to prevent creeping in either direction7 said means being adjustably connecte: to said element whereby the overall length of the element and means may be varied.

lIn testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALPHONSO'T. PALMER. 

